Tampa Bay Lightning: 26-33-7, 59 points
Philadelphia Flyers: 33-26-8, 74 points
Mike Smith v. Martin Biron
After the difficult blow out loss against Buffalo, the Flyers will try again to create some distance between themselves and the non playoff teams tonight. However, the Lightning have provided a lot of trouble for the Flyers as of late, no matter where they are in the standings. Tampa is 2-1-0 against the Flyers this year, and those wins were by margins of 2 and 3 goals.
Martin Biron will be back in net tonight. He struggled against the Sabres, allowing 5 goals on 18 shots before being pulled in favor of Antero Niittymaki.
The Lightning have a different look since we've seen them last. One of their top players, Vinny Prospal, obviously plays with the Flyers again. They also traded Brad Richards, one of their better forwards. In both trades, the Lightning didn't want to wait around for some young hot shot to rise through the system. They acquired NHL talent. Captain Picard, picked up for Prospal, has already scored a goal with the team. From Dallas, they got goalie Mike Smith, who we'll see tonight, as well as Jeff Halpern and Jussi Jokinen. They may have lost two of their top line players, but in return, they got depth and a new guy in goal.
Right now, the line of Upshall-Carter-Knuble is probably the hottest. Carter has scored a bunch of goals lately, and Upshall and Knuble have been chipping in as well. There's a reason these guys are playing so well. They're physical players who can get in on the forecheck and grind things out against the opponent. When things aren't going well, it's up to players like this to work hard and score some tough goals to get the team out of the slump. This line did it, and it's time for other lines to get in on the action as well.
Bill Meltzer has scratches, including Danny Briere.
The big story after the Sabres game is the too many men on the ice no-call that led to the eventual game winning goal. I hate hearing about this just as much as everyone else, but what do you expect? It's par for the course for officials in the league now. These are the same guys who take two seconds between thinking about blowing the whistle and doing it, raise their arms when players fart on goalies and jump in between when two players look at each other during stoppages. They just can't do the job, and it's a shame they cost teams goals. I don't know how much of a difference it made. the Flyers were outplayed completely in that third period.
Showing posts with label buffalo sabres. Show all posts
Showing posts with label buffalo sabres. Show all posts
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Game 67: Sabres at Flyers
Buffalo Sabres: 31-26-9, 71 points
Philadelphia Flyers: 33-25-8, 74 points
Ryan Miller v. Martin Biron
One week after beating the Sabres to end the long losing streak, they'll get one more shot at them, this time without Brian Campbell. They dealt him to the Sharks at the deadline and added high potential forward Steve Bernier and a draft pick.
After Niittymaki's disastrous Sunday start, Biron will be back in net. He played most of the game against the Rangers anyway.
It was nice to get a win against Buffalo last week, but it's time to start stringing some together. After the trade of Campbell, this should be a team on the decline. Even though Bernier got off to a pretty hot start with his new team, the Sabres should not be as good as they were in the weeks leading up to the deadline. However, that does not mean there's an opportunity for the Flyers to take a game lightly. If the Sabres win in regulation, all of a sudden, they're just one point behind again, and it's time to create some breathing room from the rest of the pack.
Steve Downie said he'll be back in the lineup tonight, which means 100% less Jesse Boulerice. I know a lot of fans wanted him in the lineup once his suspension ended because we were losing and needed a spark, but the guy just doesn't bring anything to the team. He has no offensive ability, he's not good defensively, and he takes stupid penalties. I don't care if he fights. Riley Cote fights. Jason Smith and Mike Richards can fight. We have guys that can do that. Boulerice is not an NHL player, and the Flyers are in a tough spot if we ever have to play him again.
Bill Meltzer has scratches and our giant IR list.
He also reports that Lupul and Hatcher could be back as soon as this weekend. That would be a huge boost. Lupul never really got going after returning from his neck injury, and Hatcher's leadership is very important to the team.
Philadelphia Flyers: 33-25-8, 74 points
Ryan Miller v. Martin Biron
One week after beating the Sabres to end the long losing streak, they'll get one more shot at them, this time without Brian Campbell. They dealt him to the Sharks at the deadline and added high potential forward Steve Bernier and a draft pick.
After Niittymaki's disastrous Sunday start, Biron will be back in net. He played most of the game against the Rangers anyway.
It was nice to get a win against Buffalo last week, but it's time to start stringing some together. After the trade of Campbell, this should be a team on the decline. Even though Bernier got off to a pretty hot start with his new team, the Sabres should not be as good as they were in the weeks leading up to the deadline. However, that does not mean there's an opportunity for the Flyers to take a game lightly. If the Sabres win in regulation, all of a sudden, they're just one point behind again, and it's time to create some breathing room from the rest of the pack.
Steve Downie said he'll be back in the lineup tonight, which means 100% less Jesse Boulerice. I know a lot of fans wanted him in the lineup once his suspension ended because we were losing and needed a spark, but the guy just doesn't bring anything to the team. He has no offensive ability, he's not good defensively, and he takes stupid penalties. I don't care if he fights. Riley Cote fights. Jason Smith and Mike Richards can fight. We have guys that can do that. Boulerice is not an NHL player, and the Flyers are in a tough spot if we ever have to play him again.
Bill Meltzer has scratches and our giant IR list.
He also reports that Lupul and Hatcher could be back as soon as this weekend. That would be a huge boost. Lupul never really got going after returning from his neck injury, and Hatcher's leadership is very important to the team.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Game 63: Flyers at Sabres
Philadelphia Flyers: 30-25-7, 67 points
Buffalo Sabres: 30-24-8, 68 points
Martin Biron v. Ryan Miller
Now that the losing streak has reached 10 games, the Flyers will try to end it against another team who has had a 10 game losing streak this year. Right now, Buffalo is 6-3-1 in their last 10, so they're playing pretty good hockey at the moment. The Flyers have to do something, anything to get out of this slump. The season is on the line, and there isn't much time left to right-size this ship.
However, as just about every Flyers fan knows, playing Buffalo has been quite problematic in recent years. Since the lockout, the Flyers are only 4-9-3 against the Sabres, including that embarrassing playoff series from two seasons ago. Most of us would like to forget that one, in which the Sabres raced in out, around over and under the Flyers, piling up multiple goals in every game. The Buffalo system just matches up well against the Flyers, and it seems that whoever is in the lineup, they'll have an answer.
This game has pretty big playoff implications. At the moment, Buffalo is the 8 seed and the Flyers are the 9 seed. If the Flyers win, they'll knock Buffalo out and be back in the playoff picture. If the Sabres win, they build a bigger gap between the playoff and non playoff teams, and pull even with Boston for the 7 seed, despite the B's having a game in hand. It's hard to believe that even with all of this losing and things spiraling out of control, you could wake up tomorrow and the Flyers would be the #8 seed. Mark Eckel guarantees it.
Bill Meltzer has the lineup notes. Downie could play tonight, and that would bring a little boost to the sagging offense. I'd imagine Ruzicka won't be scratched if Downie can't go.
It's tough to be confident against Buffalo, a team that has completely destroyed the Flyers in recent years, but the losing has to end sometime, right?
Buffalo Sabres: 30-24-8, 68 points
Martin Biron v. Ryan Miller
Now that the losing streak has reached 10 games, the Flyers will try to end it against another team who has had a 10 game losing streak this year. Right now, Buffalo is 6-3-1 in their last 10, so they're playing pretty good hockey at the moment. The Flyers have to do something, anything to get out of this slump. The season is on the line, and there isn't much time left to right-size this ship.
However, as just about every Flyers fan knows, playing Buffalo has been quite problematic in recent years. Since the lockout, the Flyers are only 4-9-3 against the Sabres, including that embarrassing playoff series from two seasons ago. Most of us would like to forget that one, in which the Sabres raced in out, around over and under the Flyers, piling up multiple goals in every game. The Buffalo system just matches up well against the Flyers, and it seems that whoever is in the lineup, they'll have an answer.
This game has pretty big playoff implications. At the moment, Buffalo is the 8 seed and the Flyers are the 9 seed. If the Flyers win, they'll knock Buffalo out and be back in the playoff picture. If the Sabres win, they build a bigger gap between the playoff and non playoff teams, and pull even with Boston for the 7 seed, despite the B's having a game in hand. It's hard to believe that even with all of this losing and things spiraling out of control, you could wake up tomorrow and the Flyers would be the #8 seed. Mark Eckel guarantees it.
Bill Meltzer has the lineup notes. Downie could play tonight, and that would bring a little boost to the sagging offense. I'd imagine Ruzicka won't be scratched if Downie can't go.
It's tough to be confident against Buffalo, a team that has completely destroyed the Flyers in recent years, but the losing has to end sometime, right?
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